Today as leaders and experts from around the world gather in Des Moines, Iowa, for the annual World Food Prize, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced impressive progress toward achieving the goals of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative. The initiative's annual progress report notes that since the start of the initiative, poverty has dropped up to 36 percent in many areas where Feed the Future works and child stunting -- a measure of malnutrition -- has dropped by as much as 40 percent.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced $3.3 million for five more winners of the Combating Zika and Future Threats Grand Challenge, bringing the total investment to $30 million. From unmanned aerial vehicles delivering critical medical supplies in remote areas to the use of big data and machine learning to prevent future disease outbreaks, innovators across the globe are responding with solutions to better address and manage outbreaks of Zika and other infectious diseases.

12 Organizations Supported Through the Development Innovation Ventures Program

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) U.S. Global Development Lab has announced $6.2 million in new grants to 12 organizations from around the world. The awards are funded through the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program, an open innovation fund that sources, tests, and scales breakthrough ideas that address global development challenges.

Today, on International Day of the Girl Child, we celebrate girls' unique contributions to our societies and reflect on the challenges they continue to face around the world. This year's theme - Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement - reminds us that gathering gender-sensitive data is critical to achieving gender equality. That means it's critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, too.

As countries throughout the Caribbean and humanitarian agencies on the ground begin to assess casualties and damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, USAID joins millions of Americans and people around the world in expressing our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones. The United States is committed to supporting our neighbors in the aftermath of this disaster, and we are working around the clock to save lives and meet urgent needs.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has requested the unique capabilities of the U.S. Department of Defense to help support USAID-led efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to communities cut off by the storm, especially in the hard-hit southwestern peninsula. As a result, the U.S. military stood up a Joint Task Force from U.S. Southern Command to support USAID's disaster relief efforts by providing logistics and airlift capacity to deliver critical supplies and humanitarian personnel.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced an additional $1 million in humanitarian assistance for communities in Haiti affected by Hurricane Matthew. This brings total USAID humanitarian assistance for regional hurricane relief efforts to $1.5 million.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the central Caribbean as Hurricane Matthew brings life-threatening rains, winds and storm surges throughout the region. USAID has pre-positioned relief supplies and is preparing to ship in additional needed supplies. USAID is also providing $400,000 in initial assistance for humanitarian partners to rapidly provide critical relief to those impacted by the storm.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the central Caribbean as Hurricane Matthew brings life-threatening rains, winds and storm surges throughout the region. USAID has pre-positioned relief supplies and is preparing to ship in additional needed supplies. USAID is also providing $400,000 in initial assistance for humanitarian partners to rapidly provide critical relief to those impacted by the storm.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment Susan Markham will travel to Thailand and Laos October 2-7. Her visit will focus on USAID's development assistance, specifically examining Laos' programs to support the education and empowerment of women and girls.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith will travel to Brussels, Belgium October 4-5 to participate in the historic Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, co-hosted by the European Union and the Government of Afghanistan. The Brussels Conference serves as an opportunity for the Afghan Government and over 70 donor countries to highlight progress on key reforms andlay out their strategy for continued development for the next four years.

As Hurricane Matthew continues to track northwest through the central Caribbean, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is carefully monitoring the situation and preparing to assist governments and communities in the region.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced new partnerships to help countries eliminate and control neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Over the next five years new and expanded partnerships will provide 1.3 billion treatments, leverage $6 billion in donated drugs, and prevent more than 585 million people from needing treatment for NTDs.

Yesterday USAID announced the issuance of a $1 billion loan guarantee from the United States to the Government of Ukraine to support the implementation of key economic and governance reforms necessary for Ukraine's democratic transition and sustainable economic recovery.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, September 30, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will hold an event commemorating 10 years of success fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) at the Newseum at 6:30 PM in Washington. Through innovative private sector partnerships, this effort has delivered more than 1.6 billion treatments to prevent and treat seven of the most prevalent NTDs, reaching more than 743 million people in 25 countries. To date, every $1 invested by USAID in NTDs leverages $26 in pharmaceutical donations for mass treatment campaigns.

Today U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Gayle Smith hosted Shared Progress, USAID's signature event for the 71st United Nations General Assembly, in New York City. Administrator Smith also signed a renewed partnership with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and announced new United States Government support for South Sudanese refugees.

At the U.S. - Africa Business Forum, the U.S. Government and its Power Africa partners announced several new milestones across dozens of energy projects and transactions. These commitments -- totaling more than $1 billion worth of debt and finance-- will advance deals that aim to provide access to electricity across sub-Saharan Africa.